The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-04-23
THEY GOT RICH.
LUCK HAD TO HELP ALONG THEIR
PLANS, HOWEVER.

PLANS, HOWEVER.
Vivid 1liNtrntlons OF tho Fact That tho
Afl.lrs Of Life nrc Disposed by Providence
and That No MIN ffas Right to be- Proud
The Story of Three Large Fortunes.
NEW YonK, April 20 1t Is customary
for the majority In this world to look
upon banks and kindred moncycd insti.
tu.ions as tho sources Of wealth, and the
directors thereof as controlling tho golden
Gov. Perhaps In moro general sense
the same remark can apply to Wall street
and Its men. Wall street Is looked upon
US sort Of Golconda, and tho men in 1t
as princes in the house of finance. AS Il
matter Of fact, only minute proportion
Of tho fortunes In New York were made
there; and as for tho banking institu.
tons, they arc tho medium through
which great wealth passes rather than
tho purveyors of 1t. It can 10 easily
demonstrated that fortune has no settled
habitation, and that great riches have
come from tho manufacture of tomato
cans, and other ordinary articles of life,
very much more than in stocks, bonds,
or anything connected with Wall street.
Opportunity and tho science of
chance" said wilitc.haircd New York
millionaire, govern almost entirely
tho gathering of great wealth either by
speculation or by investment. Through.
out my fifty years of business life have
always noticed that prcconcertcd plans
and concentrated effort to amass wealth
have failed. lam not now speaking of
the later fortunes of the Astors, the Stuy-
vcsants, or any of the other old New
York families, for they have been nc
quired by the steady advance in real cs.
tate. But you will observe that their
real estate was originally paid for with
money gathered from selling quickly all
opportunities offered and relying more
or less on chance for successful out
come" In other words, events. must
favor for ability TO tell, so that the results
achieved are after all the gifts of Provi-
dence." ee ret y.
The old gentleman went on to tell of
q few odd ways in which fortunes had
been made. lie spoke of young man,
known in the dried fruits trade Of New
York, who made fortune out of pea
nuts. Ills name was Archie Worth, and
the hit occurred many years ago. Worth
came from the South, and he knew all
about peanuts. He was devout member
Of the Episcopal Church, and was bright
and interesting man of thirty. He was
particularly acquainted with the South
ern climate and quick to appreciate its
effects upon all Southern crops. This
early training, and the fact that he was
about the only man in New York in the
trade who could seize an opportunity IT.
q peanut trade, made him fortune of
S500,00 Worth saw that the weather in
the South would ruin the next crop OF
peanuts. llc therefore adroitly bought
about every bag OF peanuts Of the last
crop in the country and had them stored
in New York. OF course, the sellers TO
Worth retained enough TO supply their
customers with peanuts until the next
crop should be marketed. Worth, with
between two and three hundred thousand
bags stored here, was as quiet as n mouse.
When the time for the crop came around
it proved-as Worth's quiet thoughts and
early experience had told him-to be a
dismal failure. Peanuts that cost him
Sc a bag sold for SIS. 4i'
lie recalled an instance In which pcr.
haps chance, though primarily guided by
forclhought, had much TO do with the
gathering of colossal fortune. This
was in the case Of the father of cx-
Governor Alonzo B. Cornell, who lived
in the Mohawk valley, and was about rs
poor as he well could be. Mrs. Cornell
ekcd out their scanty income by taking
in washing. Mr.. Cornell, ST., was D good
lumbcrman, and in the evenings was a
hungry reader of anything within his
reach. In a New York newspaper he
saw an advertisement reading that, as
Mr.. Morse had got a patent for sending
messages over wires, he wanted poles on
which TO string the wires. Mr.. Cornell
replied to that advertisement that night.
and began instantly to dream of wealth.
He followed up his dreams BY working
early and late in the forests, cutting trees
suitable for telegraph poles. After the
delays incident TO the postal service in
those days, he received from Morse word
that Il contract would be drawn up. This
was done, and Mr.. Cornell sent his poles
to localities to which he was directed.
To the surprise and disgust of Mrs. Cor
nell, who pridcd herself upon being a
woman Of extremely practical mind,
Mr.. Cornell received his pay for the
poles in the original stock of the
Western Union Telegraph Company.
The stock ut that time was worth just
about the paper on which it was printed.
But Mr.. Cornell, not at all disheartcnctl,
kept on cutting telegraph poles and send.
ing them to Mr.. Morse, receiving the
stock OF the company III payment. 1t is
related that an old box in Mr.. Cornclrs
poor ilouse was literally stuffed with
Western Union stock. Years ran along
with Mr.. Cornell still entertaining buoy
ant hopes that everything would be all
right and Mrs. Cornell continually
reminding him that no had got a lot Of
waste paper for his good poles. She fire.
quently threatened to Kindle the fire with
tho stuff. Ono day Mr.. Cornell received
word from New York that hisstock was
worth something, and that in the interest
of a reorganization of the company q
price would be paid for it. Tho sale of
tho stock, not counting some which had
been actually used in kindlirg Mrs, Cor
.nelrs fires, brought tho Cornclls vast
fortune, and from that day to this the
Cornell family has been identified with
the Western Union. Ex-Governor Cor
nell is now seen in Wall street every day
doing his prettiest in a reserved way to
maintain the position built for him by the
strokes of his fathers ak in the forests
Of the Mohawk valley. {
: The old gentleman spoke, Of a famous
"corncr" in tire-crackcrs, few years ago,
at a time that Americans got nearly all
their pyrotechnics from China. A firm
representing several others went in to
control the snrotluct ftfr that narticulnr